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Show lygrtarasll Automobile as a Killer il ' 1 1 B y'lRUtcs recently gathered by the fpd-Heral fpd-Heral census show that tlio automobile, Hlroni one point of view, is a very ox-Bfnenuvn ox-Bfnenuvn invention. JL is a great noureo Hof pleasure to multitudes of people, ana Kan important aid to civilization, but Htiiu toll it takes of human Uvea is noth-fata noth-fata short of frightful. As tho .motor Ear has grown more popular,, it has VflMturally become more destructive. Jn jjo year 11)015, automobiles killed three Kntlrcd and sixty-six persona in this Ettintry. In 11)07 they took live hundred Bed eighty-eight lincB. In WOS they Eipcd out fioveu hundred and cighty-Hx cighty-Hx people. Theso aro tho figures of the Knsus, which estimates that, at a ouch hetes, one thousand persons will be Killed bv motor cars in the United Kiitca during the twelve months of 910. U would bo clone- to tho truth Eesuy that the automobile, in this coun-Bry, coun-Bry, costs three lives a day. The tax Ami undeniably a heavy one. V In Rural Districts, ff In rural districts! the chief sufferers Hare tho autoinobilisls themselves tho Hwost common kind of accident they en-Htouuter en-Htouuter being collisions with railroads Bfnd trolloy trains. One micht suppose Htftat drivers of motor cars would bo so KB their guard ugninst dancers of this particular sort that such happenings would bo rare, but tho fact is that they Hiiro of constant occurrence as one may Eercoive by an attentive perusal of tho Hpewspapcre from day to day. HL Nothing is moro common than to hear Brf instances in which automobiles havo BWiberatelv raced with locomotives, Efeo object in view being to get over Ebe. crossing before the arrival of the Kirain at that point. Jt is literally a Ken with death, and must be extremely fccciting, but most peoplo would rather ftvet' their excitement in some less haz-Hmlotis haz-Hmlotis way. H Foot Passengers Victims. Kf)p the other Jiand. most fatal auto-habile auto-habile accidents in cities llnd tkeir vie-Aihis vie-Aihis iu foot passengers who are run Mivcr in the streets. During six weeks An October and November of last' year Seventeen children were killed in this Kianucr in Greater New York. Tndced, Muortality from this cause in large ecn-Ke'rs ecn-Ke'rs of population , is largely among mys and girls, a great majority ot JKfhom havo no playgrounds other than Klie streets, and are obliged to take heir chances with the motor ears, edging them as tlicy come along. V; Sixty oicht persons wero killed by lltomobilcs in Greater Now York dur-Kag dur-Kag the year 190! .just about half of his number meeting their Jragie fate jn Manhattan islnud. u many of theso m'sch whore people wero run over, tho jtivers of the cars were probably not WuS blame. It is diflicull to run a gaso-Bne-propclled vehicle through a city fovrded with traflic on foot and on rhecls. But. v.'ho, a generation ago, buM have imagined that the time ould ovor arrivo when locmotivcs ouJd be allowed to run on the streets rand nut on rails, at that? Moro Dangerous Than Railroads. JfA custom long established among tho Brudent demands that, beforo nttcmpl-fg nttcmpl-fg to cross a railroad, ono shall pause id look both ways, to mako suro that train is coming. Tf a train is seen pproaching, even though it be a eou-durablu eou-durablu distnnco away, ono waits un-i un-i it has passed. But in these days any fciportuiit city street is more dangerous beros8 than a railroad especially in view of tho circumstanco that automo-Biles automo-Biles aro not restricted to tracks. A ptor car may ovon whisk unexpectcd-V unexpectcd-V ground a cornor at any moment, telling tho wayfarer unawares. But fboplo ordinarily do not wait: they niply take their chances, and dodge. KlTbcy do uoL alwaj'S cKiapc, however, b the mortality records show. But is interesting" to learn that, taking o whole county ovor. two out of jBrary threo automobile- vjctims are oe-pants oe-pants of tho cars which suffer the jciaenls. Some aro killed in collisions tfh locomotives, in tho manner al-tafly al-tafly described; oLhers are upset while ping at high speed (the vehicle often turning turtle"); still others run jrer embankments, and yot others aro Jgown up by explosions of gasoline. , spot, the car is likely to upset. There capable of causing the automobile to Tt is really quite interesting to find I may bo a patch4 of rain-washed sand turn a somersault. Lots of folks are how many ways thcro aro in which peo- of indictments for automobile killings, near the bottom of the declivity, quite killed iu such ways. . pic may be"killed by automobiles. The They can hardly be said to be rated as There aro a good many ways of dying in a motor mishap. Duo to Speed Mania. It goes without saying that a great majority of tho fatal accidents to peoplo peo-plo riding in automobiles aro attributable attribut-able to fast driving. Most persons who drivo such vehicles have little, or no knowledge of mechanics, and lack tho special training which would enable them to do tho right tiling quickly and instinctively in a perilous emcrgencj'. The average man is. elated by the ability to command superhuman speed by the touch of a finger, lie uses' this marvelous power recklessly, not realizing realiz-ing the danger, and it is not. surprising surpris-ing that in frcquc'nt instances he should bring -destruction upon himself and others. This is what i3 called the "speed mania." Put a great force in the hands of an ignorant person a description applicable to very many motorists and ho will surely misuse it. If he himself were the only sufferer, suf-ferer, one might be resigned, but ho kills other people. Oh, yes; it happens every day. And is this dangerous individual in-dividual punished? Not at. all. He pays a small fine, perhaps, and goes his way rejoicing. The law rarely makes any attempt to inflict a penalty for misdeeds mis-deeds of that kind. Tn fact, "jail sentences sen-tences for such offenses arc almost unknown. un-known. The court, records everywhere show an amazing lack not only of con-victions con-victions in cases of the sort, 'but even of indiclincnts for automobile killings. They can hardly be said to be rated as anything so important as misdemeanors, misdemean-ors, jlTo wonder, then, that they continue. con-tinue. Manslaughter by auloniobilo is today the safest of all forms of crime tho term being not in tho 'slightest degree inappropriate whore, as bo often happens, a deliberate indifference to putting others in peril is accountable for the fatality. Foot Passengers Havo Eight. Any obsorvant individual is in a position po-sition to notieo that the avcrago driver driv-er of an automobile is not accustomed to pause in order to avoid running over foot passengers on tho street.. As a juiatter of fact, at crossinpsj'the foot? passenger has tho right of way; but" lo this the motorist pays no regard. He " honks" his horn. and, if the unfor-tunalo unfor-tunalo pedestrian does not get out of the way, so much the worse for him.-Only him.-Only Ihe other da3' an old man in the city of Washington was run down and killed in exactly this manner. -3o could not move fast enough, and so he died.-iiuch died.-iiuch Ihiugs aro constantly happening. happen-ing. Why should the motorist consider that ho always, and under all circumstances, circum-stances, has tho right of way? "It is because he possesses the force majeure, and nobody is in a position to disputo with him. By no means let it bo said that a majority of automobile drivers aro indifferent to Ihe rights of others, but certain it is Jhal; a large percentage percent-age of them are so, tho trait being most striking' exhibited by tho individual who, as tho. representatives of a type only loo common, has come to be knowu ns the "road hog." Ho cares for nobody. If ho makes an accident" acci-dent" killing, his conscience does not trouble him in tho least. What business busi-ness had the idiot to bo in the way? If practicable, he runs for it, leaving the victim to take his chances, aud usually escapes. Mowod Down People. Only a few weeks ago, in tho outskirts out-skirts of Manhattan borough (New York City"), a couple of men in a louring lour-ing car, accompanied by three or four women, after dark in the evening, go ing al great speed, ran through a group of four men, knocking them down anil killing two. When a pulicenian, stand ing ucarb.y, tried lo halt them, tho kopt right on. tho women yelling back with jeers of derision. Of course, they got away, and were never caught or punished. Drunk? JJoubtless, yes. But this ia one of the principal causes of auloniobilo killings. People go out in automobiles for pleasure; they stop, quite as a matter of course, for drinks. Tho alcoholic refreshments thev imbibe mako them reckless, and, on their wav homo, tho feeling on board is that it matters not whether i-vhool keeps or not. Mut it. ma tiers quite a good deal to tho luckless victims whom they run over. This sort of thing is unquestionably unques-tionably accountable for a considerable percentage of tho deaths from motor ac cidouts. Most remarkable il is however, to ob seno how the sober and snnc-miiided pvery-duv citizen is affected morally ly tho habit of drhing an automobile, ITis customary caution, iu many instances, gives way to a recklessness altogether astonishing. Ordinarily most considerate consider-ate ol other peoplo, he becomes, as a motorist, grossly indifferent to tho rights of his fellow beings. When his attention is called to an obvious violation viola-tion of such righls by himself, he laughs, and looks upon U as, a joke. When one is driving au automobile, one is too busy with fho business of 'getting lhoron to butliur witk eth icul obstacles. Autoists Pay the Price. Well, he, pays the price himself, to a largo extent. "For every person struck ami killed by a motor car, two automo-bilists automo-bilists die. They perish in a great v-rioty v-rioty of ways most of them through imprudence of ono kind or another. Ono of theso not uncommon is the pnn: tico of "rushing" road crossing which aro more or less concealed from iew. This saves much trouble, as well as lime, which might be lost by slowing up to see if a wagon, a carriage or another car is coming. In a majority of instances the other vehicle is uot there, and there is so much gained. Hut cv-erv cv-erv now mid then it happens that tho i.igon or car arrhes at just the wrong inoinenl. and a collision 'results, with a loss of one or more lives AnotL-cr frequent cause of fatal accident ac-cident is turning at' high speed. Of course it is' a bore to have to slow up at a twist in a road, but to do so is only ordinary prudence. If this be not done tho wlieels aro liable to slip the process is technically known as "skid-diug" "skid-diug" -and control over tho direction direc-tion of the vehicle's course is lost until the wheels grip the road again. Incidentally Inci-dentally it is more or less likely to be upset, perhaps "turning turtle" and pinning the occupants beneath it. Yet another way of getting into trouble is to coast down hill al fill! I speed, if ono wheel strikes a soft spot, the car is likely to upset. There! may bo a patch4 of rain-washed sand near the bottom of the declivity, quite capable of causing the automobile to turn a somersault. Lots of folks are killed iu such ways. . Tt is really quite interesting to find i how many ways thcro aro in which people peo-ple may be""killed by automobiles. The - - 1 moro tho merrier, nay the farmers or rather, they did say so until they bo-gnu bo-gnu to acquire molor cars for their own use. It annoys them even now to bo obliged to haul their wagons almost into tho ditch for almost every auto that comes along. 3'or it "is undeniable that country roads in these days nro commonly utilized as racing trucks bv motorists, who, traveling at forty tb sixty miles an hour, will take aim at an on-coming vehicle at a distance of half a mile or so, with the idea of missing it by possibly u foot. This sort of thing is calculated to render tho rural-ht rural-ht nervous, especially as, from time to time, a funeral in his" family is tho con-sequence, con-sequence, x In the automobile races, however, it is a case of "Greek meets Greek." Flie innocent airriculturist can .really enjoy these exciting contests when it falls to bis lot to witiicns ' thorn. When undertaken under proper and fashionable auspices they take place in tho open country, being- run over ordinary roads in "such an arrangemont fl that-there shall be, say a trianglo, once around which is a lap in the course. Knormolis crowds gather for the. spec-iaclc, spec-iaclc, most of the people assembling at lliecoruers of tho triangle, because those are the points at which tlio ' par-ticipants par-ticipants arc most likely to bo upset and killed. A sporting event of.this kind (suoh as tho Yanderbilt riiccs, for eiamplo) is liable to. result, as experience has shown, in about three deaths and seven or eight mannings of participants. Tt is great fun. Not infrequently it liapncns that one of the motor cars, traveling at seventy miles an hour or so, loses control and dashes into 4 the throng of bystanders at a turn, thus fl adding considerably to the mortality. And, Bpenking of maimings, it is worth mentioning, perhaps, that for every person killed by automobiles, about four aro seriously injured not Lo reckon minor hurts. |